I Don't Feel a Thing
by LightningStorm98
Summary: Shinji was left by his father to make him weak and willing for when the time came for Gendo to carry out his plan. But what happens if leaving him backfires, and only makes him stronger? Rated M for Violence, language, possible mature themes. NO LEMONS
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its characters, storyline, nothing. It's all the property of Gainax.

Author's Notes: I'll keep this short so you can get to the story. I came up with this idea and while I have no idea what made me think of it, I've decided to go with it.

So I usually listen to music while writing, and the song I've found that probably goes the most with the mood of meeting Shinji for the first time would probably have to be "Ain't no Rest of the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant, which DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN EITHER (it's rights and such belong to RCA/JIVE Label Group, a Unit of Sony Music Entertainment). Just some suggested listening.

And without further or do, I present "I Don't Feel a Thing"

**********

Gendo Ikari sat quietly at his desk, a folder in front of him. His eyes silently went back and forth across the page drinking in the words and letters. After a few moments he finally closed the folder with a gloved hand and pushed the folder aside, then his hand came back up to join his other in front of his face, still silent as a stone. Finally after a moment he reached for the phone and pressed the intercom button.

"Fuyutsuki. Come to the office."

After a while the double doors on the opposite side of the NERV commander's room opened and in walked Fuyutsuki. The older gentlemen's footsteps echoed in the large room as he walked towards Gendo's desk. "Yes sir?" he asked as he approached.

Gendo said nothing and simply pushed the folder towards Fuyutsuki. Fuyutsuki silently took up the folder and opened it to the first page. After a moment of reading the file he looked up. "Your son sir?"

"Yes," said Gendo. "It's time."

Fuyutsuki looked through the folder. "Would you like me to send for him sir?"

"Yes. The first angel attack draws near, and I want him ready to fight at a moment's notice when the angel appears."

"Will he comply?" asked Fuutsuki.

Gendo simply nodded. "He will. I've made sure of it. He will be as weak constituted as I've planned. It will be no problem getting him to do it."

Fuutsuki nodded. "Then I'll send for him immediately." He closed the folder and started out.

"Fuutsuki."

Fuutsuki paused as he got to the door and turned back to Gendo. "Yes sir?"

"Send the packet we'll be sending him to me before it goes out. I would like to add my own little message to him."

"Yes sir."

The double doors closed and the room became silent once more, Gendo still sitting at his desk, hands still held in front of him.

"And so it begins…"

**********

_"We're sorry but all landlines are down due to a state of emergency. We apologize for the inconvenience…" _

The voice was cut off roughly as the young man slammed the phone down on the receiver. The young man shook his head but a grin formed on his mouth. "Heh… This is what you needed me for eh dear father?" he said. He let go of the telephone and turned to face the street.

If you had asked anyone that had known Shinji when he was young if the young man before them was the same person, every single person asked would have shaken their heads vigorously and say "No!" over and over again. The young man they would have seen was not at all like the Shinji Ikari they thought he would grown up to be. The young man had the same brown hair true but he would never wear a black baseball cap with a white skull with wings on it on the left side of the cap, nor would the Shinji Ikari they knew be wearing a long piece of cloth around his head and down over his left eye covering it away from sight. The Shinji Ikari they knew wouldn't be wearing a short sleeved black buttoned down shirt with the rustic design of faded white skulls located on the bottom of the shirt, and neither would he wear a dark green vest over the shirt with the collar up and around his neck, a few various size pockets on each side of the vest. Shinji Ikari wouldn't wear cargo pants held up by a thick and wide tan cloth belt with a dull double silver buckle. He wouldn't wear black gloves and black heavy army boots tied up around the ends of his pants, and he wouldn't have large round black and metallic grey headphones around his neck. And he would NEVER EVER, have a large knife sheath with a thick black handle protruding from it strapped around him in the back hanging downwards at an angle.

No one would say this was Shinji Ikari. Well, everyone would be wrong. The young man was indeed Shinji Ikari, though he had long ago denounced his last name and refused to recognize or introduce himself any more with that part in his name ever again, and though he had grown up as a sweet young looking innocent boy, this young man seemed much more hardened by what life had given him. While many would have guessed that the Shinji Ikari at this age would be skinny, thin, and for lack of a better word "wimpy", Shinji actually had muscles. They weren't to the point of those ridiculous muscle builders mind you nor did it make his body seem all out of proportion, but it was enough to get people to throw a second glance at his good looks, and in some cases to DISCOURAGE that second look or thought for some of the worse people he had encountered. His face seemed to have grown into the grin that now showed on his face, the grin being a quiet one but one that if you starred at too long, would make you shiver and haunt your nightmares that night. His eyes, or visible brown eye in this case, no longer held the wide, innocent look it used too. The innocence had been replaced with a hardened look that seemed to almost reflect whatever you were thinking back at you and would only deepen the nightmares that you would have already gotten from his grin. Yes, the Shinji Ikari that everyone thought they would know at seventeen, no longer existed.

Shinji reached down to a backpack next to him and rummaged through one of the top pockets until he pulled out a few sheets of folded papers and a photo. His eyes quickly scanned over the first sheet of paper with the few words on it.

_"Come. I have a use for you."_

_ -Gendo Ikari_

Shinji let out a snicker at the paper and pushed it to the back of the stack as he scanned over the next sheet giving technical details, information, and in Shinji's opinion, crap on certain things, and the piece of paper coming with an ID for something called NERV. He rolled his eyes and put the pieces of paper full of similar crap in the back and came to the last one.

He didn't bother reading it; he knew the just of it. A simple greeting, Instructions to come to a certain area for pickup but a certain Major Katsuragi and the usual "Look forward to meeting you" thing most first letters did in this case. Folded along with the letter when it came to Shinji was a picture as well, which Shinji took out from behind it. It showed a woman in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, posing in the picture, straight, long, dark hair bordering on being a very deep dark purple or dark black, with brown eyes, wearing a black tank top and jean shorts, bending over so that her "assets" were in plain view and you could clearly see down her cleavage. She of course had to top that off with a smile and cheeky wink, and with a handwritten note of "Hey, check these out!" , as though they would be causing him to rush down to Tokyo three as fast as possible.

If anything the idea of the military sending this woman to pick him up had only made him go slower.

"Pft. Slut."

Shinji turned his head to look at one of his traveling companions standing behind him looking over his shoulder at the photo. "No the words I was thinking were Sex Addict," he said the grin on his face widening as he turned to face the young man. The young man looked the same age as Shinji, same height. He had jet black hair, short; the front combed upwards in front and had hazel brown eyes. He himself wore a long black jacket that reached halfway down between his knee and waist hanging open and loose, the zipper undone, sleeves rolled up, and the straps that ran across that undone as well at the top of the coat. Under the coat he had a black button down shirt similar to Shinji's though on the front left side of the shirt in various colors and in a square formation were a spade, a club, a diamond, and a heart. He wore black jeans and black tennis shoes. Over his waist were two belts each one crossing each other like an X. One had a few pouches, the other one seemed bare. On his hands were black leather knuckle gloves, a watch on the left wrist, and on the other forearm was a white cloth wrapped around like a bandage and tied off in a square knot.

Shinji quickly examined the young man before him. His name was Arik Devens, seventeen years old, and one of the few of Shinji's best friends, and for that matter one of the few of Shinji's friends in general. Arik was someone that had mastered the "art" of being unreadable when he wanted too. If he ever met a stranger his face would immediately set straight and give no hint to what he was thinking or what he would do next. Even when he felt like he was being readable sometimes, Arik couldn't be read by the most professional and expert psychiatrists. Still, the young man had feelings, and would smile, grin, grimace, frown, and shoot one of the evilest, "You're going to die", looks anyone had ever seen. His unreadable features came in handy with one of his first and foremost hobbies. He was by all definitions of the word, a card shark. He had skills and talent that would rival that of the dealers of New Vegas, and would likely ban him from there from life while having his face plastered all over wanted posters in the security offices, law enforcement, the FBI, AND the CIA. He had on his person at all times at LEAST 3 decks, a standard deck, a marked one, and one of Arik's specialty rigged decks that he would guarantee a win to him and anyone he would hand it too. Coupled with that he would have dice on him as well, one pair of regular standard dice, another loaded pair, and a lucky set of dice the one side of the dice being skulls and each dot a fiery orange. Put him in any game involving cards or dice and Arik would win easily. When asked how he would win, he would simply say that lady luck loved him. The way Shinji saw Arik play at times he could swear that Lady luck existed, and really did love Arik.

Arik shook his head taking the picture. "She's a booze hound," he said. "One in the morning, one during lunch, one for each break she'll take during work, and three before bed."

Shinji continued to grin as he took the photo back not saying anything. He had learned long ago not to question Arik on such things; Arik was usually right on the dot with his analysis of people. Shinji motioned to Arik. "What time is it?"

Arik checked his watch. "10:15."

"Tch… late," said Shinji. His grin returned to his face. "Of course I won't mind if she doesn't show up at all." He looked around. "Where are Julie and Tyler?"

Arik had pulled out a deck of cards and was absentmindedly flipping through them. "They had gone to check something out."

Shinji looked down the street to see two figures walking towards them. "Speak of the devil," he said.

The first figure was a young woman once again the same age as Shinji and Aaron, a bit shorter then both. She had short, straight, fiery red hair down to her jaw, her bangs parted to one side, dark mascara being around her fiery red eyes. She was wearing a low cut dark red tank top, wearing a dark green bomber like jacket, the sleeves cut off leaving only short pieces of cloth to cover over the top of the shoulders, the collar once again pulled up. Her pants were black and form fitting along with black heavy boots with straps running across them. She wore a simple belt around her waist, and had long black gloves that covered her wrist, a padded area on the back of the gloves. The only thing that would have concerned people when they saw her, was the leather gun holster hooked on to her right thigh.

The figure next to her was yet another male. This young man had dirt brown hair under an olive green military cap. Over his eyes were two dark Aviator like sunglasses with reflective surfaces. He wore a white t-shirt with various designs over it, with a heavy cloth olive green coat over that the sleeves rolled up high on his arms and a red bandanna tied around his upper right arm. He had black jeans that hit the top of his tennis shoes. Barely visible under his jacket and over his t-shirt were two straps one having a pocket on it the other having a knife sheath with a knife in it. Over his shoulder he carried a backpack as well.

The two before Shinji were Julie and Tyler, the only other best friends of Shinji's beside Arik. Julie Embers was seventeen being as old as Shinji, and was a bit shorter then he was. She was a girl, but surprisingly enough she didn't seem to mind being in the constant company of three guys and do things they enjoyed. In that sense she could have been considered tomboyish to those that didn't know her, but she was far from such. Her good looks and interests screamed girl to anyone that got to knew her and the there had been times when Shinji had seen her use her looks and womanly charms to help her out when she needed it. However she was no slut, and any guy thinking of her as such or ever calling her that would often end up with the majority of their bones being broken in several areas. Yea, she wasn't afraid to go toe to toe with any guy or girl, and chances are she would be the one to win through a combination of wit, skills, and strength. But in all truth that was part of the reason she fit in so well with her group.

Tyler Long was of course the usual age of the group, him being seventeen as well but the youngest one in the group in all truth by a few months. He was probably the one with the most book smarts in the group and was the one that would crack a joke at an inappropriate time to lighten the mood though he didn't smile very much and when he did it seemed that Shinji's grin had worn off on him for his smile contained the same hints of disturbing thoughts as Shinji's grin did. He usually always wore his aviator glasses unless there was an absolute reason he had to remove them for the reasons of throwing people off. If anyone tried to look Tyler straight in the eye the only thing they would see would be their own reflection which would often annoy the person in question. And if that didn't the toothpick that was usually in Tyler's mouth would. Almost 24 hours of the day you would find a toothpick in his mouth which would either be still, or moving about either across his lips or jiggling about as he chewed silently on the end of it. No one knew exactly why he did that except for Shinji, Arik and Julie and no one talked about it either. It was a subject Tyler would rather forget.

"There you two are," said Arik putting his deck back in his jacket.

"Sorry," said Tyler reaching into his bag and pulling out a single wooden toothpick and placing it between his teeth. "Just checking out the city."

"Looking for something in particular?" asked Arik.

Tyler shrugged. "Thought I saw a store…." He began.

Shinji zoned out of the conversation as he looked at the three standing before him watching quietly. His mind slowly turned to a memory that had been burned into his mind, one that had happened what felt like an eternity ago… a different lifetime ago…

_"You're hiding too huh?" _

_ "…yea…" _

_ "…mind if we hide here too from her?" _

_ "…no…" _

_ "Is that other guy your friend?" _

_ "I just came in here to hide too…" _

_ "Oh…" _

_ "What's your name?" _

_ "…Shinji… what's yours?" _

_ "Julie…" _

_ "I'm her roommate… Tyler…" _

_ "…nice to meet you…" _

_ "…what about your name?" _

_ "…Arik…my name is Arik." _

_ "… I'm scared…" _

_ "She's mean today again…" _

_ "Don't worry… she won't find us here." _

_ "I hope not…" _

_ "…trust me…" _

_ "Why…?" _

_ "Because who else is there to trust?" _

_ "Arik's right... we only got each other and ourselves to trust…" _

_ "…you mean like friends?" _

_ "Yea… like friends. Do you want to be friends Shinji?" _

_ "…I've… never had friends before…" _

_ "Really?" _

_ "…no…" _

_ "Well… consider me one…" _

_ "Yea… me too." _

_ "… Me too…" _

_ "…thank you…" _

Shinji's mind slipped away from the past back to the present finding himself starring blankly off into the distance at a random object. So long ago… yet still fresh in his mind. He shook his head and his ears tuned into the conversation and to Julie who started to talk.

"Yea, whole place is deserted," said Julie putting her hands in her pockets and leaning to one side as she looked around the city. "Not a person in sight."

"Looked all over but have no idea why," added Tyler.

"State of emergency," said Shinji simply.

"Ah," said Tyler smiling and laughing quietly. "The puzzle only deepens. Your bastard of a father wants you for something big Shinji."

"I say we ditch while we can," said Julie motioning down the road. "Before that major whatever comes to pick you up…"

"At this rate I doubt she'll even show up," said Arik looking at his watch.

"I thought the military was supposed to be uniformed; organized," said Tyler. "Or are these jokers as screwed up as the world?"

Before anyone could answer, a sudden loud roar sounded shaking the ground beneath them. The four quickly turned towards the sound, only for all four to stare upwards in amazement and fright. A huge thing that could only be described as a mechanical monster was moving through the city demolishing anything in its path.

"What the hell is that?!" said Tyler as the group took a step back.

"Some monster or something…" said Arik. "Never seen anything like that before."

"I told you we should have bailed," said Julie.

"Not too late now is it?" asked Arik as the group turned around and started to run. Before they could make it very far however a red convertible screeched around the corner and spun to a stop in front of them.

Shinji instantly recognized the driver as the women in the picture. Major… Katsuragi? She was wearing a red military like coat with a black dress under that with sunglasses on. She quickly stood up in her seat. "One of you Shinji Ikari?"

"It's Shinji Itachi," said Shinji shortly.

"Yes yes, but you are the son of Gendo Ikari right?" she said quickly.

"Yes," said Shinji simply. "As much as I don't want to be," he added under his breath.

If the major heard what Shinji said she gave no sign that she did and threw open the car door. "Get in! We gotta get moving!"

Shinji looked back at the monster then at the group and nodded. The group started for the car but the Major stopped them. "Whoa! Hey, my orders are to only take Shinji Ikari no one else! You guys are going to have to wait!"

The group said nothing and Shinji shook his head. "Either they come with me or I don't go at all."

"I can't take them!" said the woman. "My orders are to just bring you!"

Shinji said nothing, slammed the door shut and he and the group started to walk away. A few steps away they heard the woman let out a loud angry yell through her teeth. "FINE FINE! JUST GET IN! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!"

The group quietly got into the car and as soon as the door was closed the group was thrown back into their seats as the car shot forward down the street. Shinji repositioned himself in the front seat and watched as the woman pulled out her phone and dialed a quick number. "Hey, its Misato, I have the third child with me… yea he's fine, but he came with three other kids and kinda forced me to bring them along… Well I'm sorry but he was going to walk!" She growled slightly and her fingers clenched tighter around her phone. "Fine! We'll be there soon!" She closed the phone with another growl as she threw the phone down onto the seat. "Damn it all, today isn't going well…" Shinji heard her mutter. She growled and clenched the wheel a bit harder. "I need a beer…"

Shinji couldn't help but grin as he heard Arik snicker behind them.

Misato turned to look over at Shinji breathing in deeply and forcing a smile. "Sorry, maybe we got off on the wrong foot there. I'm Major Katsuragi. I didn't mean to rush you there but as you can see something's up here." She motioned to the monster above them where Jets had suddenly appeared flying around the monster firing countless missiles at it though no visible damage was being shown.

"One of your government experiments gone wrong?" asked Shinji grinning.

"No, it's called an angel," said Misato as the car screeched around another corner.

"Yea, I can totally see where you got that name for it," said Tyler grinning as well, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's complicated," said Misato. "You have your papers that were sent to you right Shinji?"

Shinji nodded. "In my backpack."

"And your ID?"

"Yea."

"And did you read the handbook?"

"No."

Misato rolled her eyes. She quickly popped open the glove compartment and pulled out a small book and handed it to Shinji. "Well here, should help you understand a bit more."

Shinji absentmindedly flipped through a few pages then closed the book. "No thanks," he said.

"What why not?!" asked Misato.

"Because I'm here for one reason and one reason only and it sure as heck isn't to join your little scouting group," said Shinji pulling out his knife testing the sharpness of the edge with his thumb. He only grinned wider as he saw Misato blink worriedly at the knife out of the corner of his eye. "Shouldn't you be keeping your eyes on the road Major?" he asked flipping the knife in his hand.

Misato shook her head muttering under her breath even more as they continued.

"Hey, why is your scouting group pulling out Major?" asked Julie.

"First off those jets aren't a part of NERV and second…" began Misato turning to glance up at the Angel above them. The jets had suddenly seemed to throw on their backburners and were speeding away. She shook her head. "They planning to give up so quickly?" she muttered.

"A brave one is coming up," said Tyler pointing at a larger jet coming in.

"What do you mean…" began Misato turning to look up at the jet increasing in size with each second. "OH SHIT! THEY'RE GOING TO USE AN N2!" She quickly grabbed Shinji and pushed him down. "GET DOWN!"

As the group got down in the car a moment of silence was occurred then a deafening explosion was heard followed with a wave of heat washing over everyone in the car, then a feeling of weightlessness as the car was thrown forward off its wheels for a few seconds then a loud crash and crack as the car landed with a sickening jolt back on the pavement. What had really happened in relatively few seconds had felt like an eternity for the events to occur, and many had felt sure that the car was going to crash or land turned over when it left the ground.

Everyone stayed silent and motionless in the car for a few moments until finally Shinji's voice could be heard. "Get… off… me." Misato had thrown herself over the young man in order to protect him, and had held him down as the events had transcribed. She got off him breathing heavily as she turned to look at what had transcribed behind them. Shinji quickly sat up shaking himself off as the others did the same.

"What the hell were they thinking?!" said Misato angrily. "Using an N2 mine?! In a city?!" The whole city was covered in smoke and dust which was dispersing quickly, the monster and the city obscured from view because of it all.

Julie sat up pushing her hair back out of her eyes. "That was fun," she said brushing herself off.

"Yea, looked like Angel had fun too," said Arik. The smoke cleared away to show the monster still standing, no visible damage shown. It let out a loud roar to the sky and continued forward.

"God damn it," said Misato. She quickly slammed her foot on the gas pedal and the car shot forward once more. "I knew it wouldn't work but I still hoped…" she muttered.

"You're not impressing me much here," said Shinji grinning. "Can't even handle your day to day monster. So what now Major?"

"We pray that what we have planned works…" said Misato grimacing.

***********

Author's Notes: Well, I hope I at least some people enjoyed it. This is my first fanfic, or at least the first one I've posted up so I'm kinda… fine, REALLY nervous to hear what people have to say about it. First off, I know that in the original story Shinji, Rei, Asuka, were fourteen or around that age and I've made them seventeen. Reason is first off, the idea just makes more sense to me, second off, it allows me to make the characters a bit more mature, and it fits a bit better with the story I have planned. Second, I know that I described Arik, Julie, and Tyler in terms of personality but I didn't give you guys any background about why they're there or how they met Shinji except for that little dialogue flashback. I meant it that way of course because I'm going to reveal their lives and story with Shinji throughout the story, bit by bit. Gotta keep you coming back right? Also, I know I didn't follow what's been happening with the original story line very well at all, but this is a fanfic and so yea I know I didn't follow it very well, but I kept what I think I needed too and that it does pretty well without over following the original story.

Anyways, please if you guys can review for me. I want honesty but at the same time this is my first so if you guys could go easy on me… I'm begging you. They don't even have to be reviews. Seriously, they can be guesses, theories, ideas, anything. Thanks you guys. Plan to have Chapter 2 up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I (as said before) do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its characters, storyline, etc. All of it is property of Gainax.

So thanks for waiting. Been caught up in the holidays and other things these past few weeks but I've finally got this done and have posted this up. As I did earlier in the first chapter, I listened to one song during the writing of this chapter which I suggest for listening along with reading, namely with the fight scene, and I give all credit to **Slicerness** for suggesting the song and getting me to buy it and listen to it while writing the chapter.

The song is called "City" by Hollywood Undead (which I don't own either; owned by OctoScope Music, LLC 2008). Fair warning to readers; as is all music by Hollywood Undead it has violent themes, similar underlying themes, and some language, so don't listen to it if you don't like that stuff.

Without further or do the second chapter in "I Don't Feel A Thing"

**********

"ARGH! WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!"

Misato's voice rang out through the hallways of the base as she and the group of friends tried to find the area of where they needed to go. Since the drop of the N2 mine Misato had quickly driven them along, taken them down into something she had rushed along calling a "geofront" and into the base where she had rushed them out of the car and into the base. The halls were eerily quiet and empty as the group walked through them except for the occasional outbursts from Misato. Despite all of that and the concept of them being in a base for reasons unknown, the group seemed unfazed and for that matter uncaring about what was going on and what may possibly happen to them. Tyler had already pulled out his last toothpick from his mouth, the end chewed down and splintered, and had replaced it, still chewing away at it looking ahead, face straight. Julie was just looking bored in general as she stretched her neck. Arik had his hands in his pockets head down simply walking straight ahead, and Shinji had previously put on his headphones, music blaring out of them after fifteen minutes of walking through the area.

"I should know where it is!" said Misato looking down hallways as the group passed them.

The group stayed quiet at this, not speaking. The fact of the matter was the group had passed this point in the base about five times, this making it their sixth time. A grin spread across Shinji's face as they made for another pass and looked at his friends behind him. Julie rolled her eyes, Arik suppressed his snicker with a cough and Tyler threw down the toothpick only to replace it with a slight silent laugh. They said nothing; they found it amusing that the Captain had no idea where she was going though the point they had passed had signs with arrows pointing and telling where each area was.

As the group continued down the hall a shout was heard. "Misato!"

Misato spun around. "Ritsuko?" she called out. From the hallway that had had the signs pointing to the bridge appeared a woman with blonde hair dressed in a lab coat carrying a clip board. She was about the same height as Misato, same age, and pale skin with high heels. The heels of her footsteps hitting the floor as she walked sounded through the hallway as she walked over to the group.

"Where have you been Misato?" asked the women named Ritsuko. "You called us saying you had the third child in your possession almost an hour ago!"

"Sorry," said Misato. "I couldn't find the bridge."

Ritsuko shook her head. "We just had signs put up! Don't tell me you forgot about that!"

Misato's cheeks turned a slight red at this. "Maybe…" was all she got out.

Ritsuko shook her head. "You're impossible Misato. But at least you got here." She looked over the group. "Which one is Shinji Ikari?"

"ITACHI," said Shinji, his voice venom laced. "Shinji Itachi."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows at his tone. She looked over his shoulder noticing the strap across it and the knife sheath peeking over it. Her eyes spun to Misato her eyes narrowing. "Why does he have a knife with him? Didn't you go through security?"

"There were no security guards at the entrance," said Misato. "I didn't know he had one."

"You didn't see that on his back?" asked Ritsuko her eyes narrowing even more.

"No," said Misato. In all truth, she knew, she had seen him with it in the car in plain view testing the sharpness with his thumb, and she had thought and knew she should have confiscated it even if the guards weren't there, but she was kind of in a rush to find the bridge and everything that it slipped her mind.

Ritsuko looked back over Shinji. "You're going to have to give that to Misato so she can have it held for you while you're here."

Shinji's grin appeared on his face. "No."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows once more. "You cannot be on the premises with unauthorized weapons Shinji. Hand it over to Misato."

Shinji's grin widened as he shrugged. He reached behind him pulling the knife out of his sheath and holding it out. "Well here you go. Take it."

Ritsuko reached out to grab the knife but as she did so her eyes met his face and suddenly her hand paused as she suddenly froze. His grin and eye seemed to bore right into her, motionless and still, as though daring her to take the knife and that if she did, the consequences would not be worth it. Her mind went blank as she couldn't tear her gaze away from his as his gaze seemed to swallow her whole then drill into the very depths of her mind. It was a terrifying, burning, haunting, horrible, evil, dark; any and all of the words described it; it was the type that brought up buried memories back to the surface of the mind, the type that wanted to make you crawl into a corner and cry. But above all else his gaze was… _dead_. She couldn't do anything until his voice brought her back. "No? Then I think I'll just keep it thank you." Her body seemed to jump start at this as he quickly sheathed the blade and looked away. She suddenly became very aware of her heart hammering in her chest, that she was unconsciously holding her breath, and that her knees and the rest of her body were feeling very weak. She felt her breath get released and she had to consciously hold her hand back from going to her chest to try to get her heart to calm down.

"Uh, well…" She felt a small shudder crawl down her spine and it took a great mental strength to compose herself. "If you will all follow me." She'd leave the knife to security… if they'd be able to take it from him for that fact.

"What's the status so far?" asked Misato, she clearly not seeing what had happened.

Ritsuko took a deep breath her body still shaking slightly. "The N2 mine had no effect,"

"That was obvious," said Tyler under his breath.

"But it did seem to stun it slightly. It's movements in the beginning are jagged and uncoordinated. The angel seems to be recovering from it for the moment. It's given us a good time to prepare for the counterattack. We've just been waiting for you," said Ritsuko as the group got into an elevator.

"I bet the commander isn't very happy…" said Misato grimacing.

"Not anymore then he usually is," said Ritsuko pushing in the floor number and the elevator engine turning on and the elevator starting downwards. She looked at the kids, eyes moving from one to one, her eyes glancing at Shinji then moving away, the same shiver as before crawling up her back once more.

"So… Ritsuko was it?" asked Shinji.

"Dr. Akagi," said Ritsuko, mentally struggling to keep her voice calm.

"Sorry. Dr. Akagi," he said. "I take it the reason I've been called down here has something to do with that Angel out there." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Yes," said Dr. Akagi. "You've been called to take it down." She turned around to look at Shinji directly, expecting at least some surprise or shock on his face or maybe for some sign that would provide comfort to her after what he did to her. However his grin was still on his face, his face low.

"Hmm," he said simply.

Ritsuko cringed. How… how was this kid so calm? Was this person even a kid? She looked up at Misato whose face betrayed the same thoughts running through her mind.

"And how do you suggest he do that?" asked Tyler. "I hope you have a better plan then everything else you've been doing."

Ritsuko glared at Tyler but he seemed unfazed and he simply stared back and at her as he moved the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. She didn't like this group already. "All previous actions haven't been done by us. We've just been granted control of the situation however."

"Still doesn't answer our question," said Arik as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to a dark room.

"Shinji… is supposed to defeat it…" began Ritsuko as the group walked out onto a metal catwalk. "With this."

At this a whirling noise was heard as generators were kicked on and the lights from above turned on revealing the room. The group was on a large metal plank in a large square room. The walls were white tiled simply and bland. The metal bridge was suspended above a lake of yellow, orange, liquid, seeming still, the noise of liquid gently lapping about echoing around the room. This and the details of the room escaped the group however as they all stood starring at what was in the middle of the room.

A purple monster was how they would have described it. They were standing right in front of the beasts pointed face, it colored a dark purple with green accents the material seeming to be some type of metal, layers of it upon different layers. Bright yellow lifeless eyes stared at the group underneath the metal armor, two large vent like tubes underneath the eyes on the sides of the face colored green, and a horn protruding from in between the eyes, the chin coming down into a similar point. Various other accents of colors showed, an orange neck, large fin like structures on the shoulders, purples armor on its legs and arms which seemed to bulge underneath with muscles, half of the monster underneath the liquid below it

The four teens seemed to step back slightly as they saw what was right next to them. "Damn," said Tyler looking over it.

"Looks like that thing outside," said Julie.

Shinji stepped forward starring at the beast before him as Arik walked up next to him. "Should have known," said Arik. Shinji looked at him questioningly. Arik simply looked back at him. "Classic anime stuff. Only way to defeat a giant robot is with another giant robot." Shinji grinned.

Misato looked over at Ritsuko after hearing the joke, shock on her face which spoke what she was thinking instantly. What was wrong with these kids?! Ritsuko cringed once more as the same thoughts ran across her own mind. Ritsuko had to agree with her friend's thoughts. The group had seemed surprised at first but they had taken it in stride it seemed and were already cracking jokes. This wasn't like she had been informed Shinji would be.

Shinji turned around to look at the two. "So, what is this I'm looking at?"

"It's called an Eva. And you're going to pilot it."

Shinji put his head down low as his mouth turned into the widest grin he had on yet as he heard the voice. His chest shook silently as though he was laughing, his shoulders heaving. Ritsuko and Misato felt themselves take a step back at the sight, not having any idea what was happening. Shinji finally stopped and he turned around looking up to a viewing window above the Eva. A man with black hair, orange square glasses, and a black beard in a suit stood there looking down at the group. Shinji's grin widened even more at the sight. "Why hello… father. What has it been… 13… 14 years? I've lost count."

Gendo Ikari starred at Shinji below him his eyes drinking in the details his son, moving up and down the boy. Something… something was wrong. Gendo would have never imagined Shinji dressing like this, like some street punk. He didn't plan that Shinji would be standing so tall. And that grin… why was he grinning? Shinji shouldn't be grinning. And he had friends with him, three looking in the similar manner, each one starring up at him. He would have thought that Shinji wouldn't have any good friends, nor any that would come with him. He had made sure the people he had dumped Shinji with wouldn't have come with him, and that should have in turn, along with other consequences, should have left him with no good friends either. Gendo breathed in deeply. No matter however. Shinji would break to Gendo's will. He may look different then thought, but he would be as weak as Gendo had made sure he would be when he left him those many years ago. Gendo ignored the question. "We need you to pilot the Eva."

Shinji continued to grin. "What? No hello? No how have you been?" He let out a small laugh. "I'm hurt..."

"We have no time Shinji," said Gendo. "The Angels will soon recover its strength and start rampaging through the city once more."

Shinji put a hand up to his chin and started to rub it as though in deep thought. He pursed his lips then the grin reappeared. "No."

Gendo raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Shinji shook his head letting his grin disappear. "No. I will not pilot your… Eva was it?" He shook his head. "I won't do it."

"You are the only one we have able too pilot it," said Gendo calmly. He had known that Shinji may resist at first, but Shinji would break. "We need you to pilot it as it's the only thing able to take down the Angel."

Shinji shrugged. "No."

"Perhaps you don't understand the severity of it all," said Gendo. "If you don't pilot the Angel destroy the city, kill all of us. The world may try to fight it, but they will fail and fall as well until the Angel destroys all humans."

Shinji's eye narrowed. "I owe this city nothing. I owe humanity nothing. And above all else I owe you nothing." He grinned. "I still won't pilot it."

Gendo starred down at Shinji who starred back, his grin still plastered on his face. Gendo made no movement his mind moving into action. The angel would start up again soon. They had to hurry or else the scenario would fail. He would have to push harder.

"As weak as ever," said Gendo. He looked down at Ritsuko. "Get Rei here. Our back up plan has failed. She'll have to pilot and take down the Angel."

"Sir, Rei is still recovering…" began Misato.

"We have no choice. Get Rei here," said Gendo shortly.

Ritsuko grabbed her cell phone and dialed in a number. "Bring in the first child," she said to whoever was on the other line.

The doors on the opposite side of the room burst open to reveal two medics coming in with a gurney, an occupant on it hooked up to a few IVs, an oxygen mask on her face. The group came to a stop short from them, the group of teens not able to see the patient.

"Rei," said Gendo. "Our backup has failed; the third child cannot pilot. You'll have to go out in his stead."

A weak quivering voice was heard. "Y-y-yes sir…" From the gurney the figure stirred, then moved slowly trying to get up. Blue hair appeared as the head slowly moved upwards and the body slowly got off the gurney revealing its occupant. It was a slender young woman, about the same age as Shinji's group. She had pale white skin, light blue hair short and choppy, and blue strands hanging down over her face, a few being stuck to her head as though doused in sweat. She was wearing a skin tight white jump like suit, a zipper running straight down the front, no real designs adorning it except a few variations on the shoulders, wrists and legs. In the middle of the chest area in black was the numbers "01". Over all of this however were layers of wrapped bandages over various parts of her body including over her head and one eye. The girl slowly grabbed the IV lines put into her and pulled out, small groans of pain occurring as she pulled each out. She struggled as pushed herself up off the gurney her teeth bared slightly, her elbows shaking visibly as they struggled with their load. She finally got into standing position and started to struggle forward but let out a cry of pain as she collapsed to the ground.

Misato stepped forward as Rei started to push herself up once more despite having fallen. "Sir! Rei can't pilot like this!"

"We have no choice Captain," said Gendo. "We have no one else that can pilot and the Angel needs to be stopped. Rei will be fine." As he said this, Gendo looked at Shinji who was starring at the girl named Rei. Shinji's grin had disappeared, his face straight as he watched the girl struggle upwards once again. She made a few more steps with whimpers of pain then let out another cry of pain and started to fall. Shinji rushed forward and slid underneath her catching her. He gently turned her over so he could see her face. His eye met her one free eye; a blood red orb focusing in and out on his face, her face drenched in sweat, her body quivering and shaking in his arms.

Shinji looked up at his father. "You will not make her pilot."

"There is no one else to pilot the Eva," said Gendo. "It's part of her duty and she knows so."

Shinji's one eye narrowed once again. "She's about to die."

"It's her duty. And if she dies, so be it," said Gendo coldly. "She'll die for her duty"

Arik suddenly stepped forward his hand dashing into his jacket then coming back out a pistol in hand, pointed straight at Gendo. The medics and Ritsuko let out cries of surprise and Misato's hand rushed down towards her gun only in the next instant to find herself starring down a gun barrel held by Tyler. "None of that Captain," he said. She growled and Tyler slowly reached down and took the gun from her holster. Julie came up and grabbed the gun from him and pointed it at the medics and Ritsuko.

Gendo's face remained calm on the outside but on the inside his mind was racing, the same as Misato's and Ritsuko's. What had just happened? One moment he was arguing with his son, the next his friend had a gun pointed at him and the others had his other personnel under watch as well. How did they come in with guns? For that matter why did they come with guns?!

"What's going on here?!" growled Misato.

The group didn't answer as Shinji continued to stare at his father. "I didn't come here to help you father," said Shinji calmly. "I didn't come here to become a tool of yours. And this girl doesn't deserve to be treated as such either."

"I'm not forcing her to pilot Shinji," said Gendo his heart racing in chest, but keeping his straight face, hoping that he could recover from this turn of events. "You are."

Shinji looked down at the girl, her body shaking uncontrollably from the pain. She let out a low whimper, her red eye blinking rapidly, the pupil focusing in and out on Shinji's face. It was at this moment that Shinji noticed a single tear gather at the corner of her eye and slowly run down the edge of her nose.

"Shinji," said Arik. "I have a clear shot." His thumb pulled back the hammer with a loud click. "I can end this now." His voice was steady, straight and clear to everyone, but Shinji could hear what was behind it. Hatred. Hatred for Gendo and what he was doing. Clearly what Arik had heard about Gendo and what Gendo was doing right now was pushing him a bit farther then it should be. Arik barely let any emotions leak out; the fact that Shinji could pick up on this hatred only went to show how much Arik's hatred was. Arik wanted to take the shot. Shinji knew that at that moment Arik would like nothing more then to put a bullet straight between Gendo's eyes. But…

"No Arik," Shinji said as he watched Rei. He looked up at Arik. "Arik, stand down." Shinji watched as Arik lowered the gun as soon as the words left Shinji's mouth, though Shinji knew Arik was having a hard time with it. Shinji looked back down at Rei and gently pulled her closer. Her hands immediately grabbed his coat trying to pull herself closer to him, burying her head into his chest as though he was what was going to be the thing to alleviate the pain. He looked up at Gendo. "I'm sure as hell not doing this for you," he said. "I'll pilot it. But she gets immediate care."

Gendo felt his heart relax as he nodded. The plan was safe for now. "Fine. Ritsuko get the Third Child into the Eva and ready."

Julie and Tyler slowly lowered their weapons and Misato quickly relieved Tyler of his weapon and pointed it at him. "Up against the wall, all three of you," she said pointing looking at Julie and Arik as well. "Now." She jerked her head to a wall. Arik and Julie slowly let go of their guns and the three slowly got up against the wall as Misato called security. Shinji slowly lifted the girl to the gurney and placed her down gently where the medics started to hook back in the IV lines.

"Follow me," said Ritsuko starting to walk away, her body shaking slightly. Shinji looked back at his group, the three up against the wall, legs and arms spread out as they were being patted down by Misato. Shinji caught Arik's eye. Arik simply nodded. _Go. We'll be fine. _Shinji gave one last look at his father, who was still starring uncaringly down upon him. Shinji's straight face curved up into the familiar grin as he pulled his hat down lower covering his eyes. He raised one hand up to his father forming a gun with his fingers then flicked his wrist back as though firing a bullet. Without another word he lowered his hands and walked after Ritsuko.

Gendo felt a shiver crawl down his spine and his heart begin to become still into its normal beat as Shinji disappeared from sight. He closed his eyes, suddenly conscious that he had resumed breathing. That wasn't the Shinji he had planned… that wasn't part of the scenario. But once again… it didn't matter. Shinji had after a while given in to Gendo. This first step was a success and that's all that mattered at the moment. That's all he could focus on at the moment. Shinji may not be what he had planned, but he could adapt if necessary. All that mattered now was continuing the plan, and that plan depended on Shinji beating that Angel.

**********

"Captain, we're almost ready!"

Misato walked into the command post, the computer technicians typing away on their computers and preparing the Eva for launch, the large screens made up of individual triangle screens put together surrounding her, the main showing the Angel in the dark outside. Another showed the Eva in its containment locks, being prepared for launch. "Thanks Maya," said Misato letting out a sigh as she grabbed a pair of headphones.

"You okay Captain?" asked Maya noticing Misato drinking a whole can of soda in one go.

Misato shook her head. "Today isn't my day. An angel attacks, I gotta pick up and babysit some kids, only to have them point a gun at me and almost kill me, then have to throw three of them in the cells." She growled as she threw the empty can down. "And I want a beer. Not this soda crap."

"Did the kids give you trouble?"

Misato shook her head. "No actually. They were silent as stones, let me cuff them, put them in the rooms and lock them up without a word or struggle." Misato put on her headset. "Enough chit chat. What's happening?"

"The angel is showing signs of recovery," said Maya. "The Magi estimate we have ten minutes before it starts up once again."

"What about the Third Child?" asked Misato. "What's his status?"

"He's currently being loaded up into the Eva. Ritsuko has already passed him on being able to pilot in his condition, and has given him a rough sketch of how to pilot the Eva. She should be joining us any time soon."

"How much longer until he's ready for action?"

"We need to load him up on the ramp and launch him. Estimated 8 minutes."

Misato's mouth curved downwards and she bared her teeth slightly. It was going to be close. As Shinji got up there the monster should just be re-activating, considering nothing went wrong.

"Tell the mechanics to get a move on. I want to get him out there before the Angel starts again," barked Misato.

"Yes mam!"

The double doors on the side of the room slid open and Ritsuko came walking in, clipboard in hand still, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She came up next to Misato shaking her head. "He's ready as he'll ever be."

"How's his sync rates?" asked Misato.

"Higher then we expected, I can tell you that. That of course will change in the middle of battle when he'll lose focus of it simply trying to survive."

"How else is he doing?" asked Misato grabbing another can. "Scared?"

Ritsuko actually visibly shivered. "No… he doesn't seem scared at all. For that fact he had on that grin when he climbed into the entry plug."

Misato frowned. "Seriously?" she asked.

Ritsuko nodded. "He just listened to me, let me do what I needed and got in without a word." Her body visibly shivered again. "Right as the entry plug closed I saw him sitting hands on the control with that grin upon his face." She shook her head rapidly as though trying to shake the image out of her mind. "It was almost as though he was looking forward to what's going to happen."

"That'll change when he gets out there," said Misato turning away from Ritsuko. She turned to look high above her at where the Commander and Fuuyutski stood. The Commander had already taken his usual seat and position, the usual hands clasped in front of his face bit as he looked at the screen, listening to the operations and overseeing it all. If he was disturbed or scarred by the early encounter with Shinji and his friends about to kill him, he showed no signs of it. He looked his usual self, ready and waiting for the battle. She had been given command of the situation for the moment however, so no point in waiting for him to cut in at all. She turned back to the screens. "What's Unit 01 status?"

"On the ramp, loaded and hooked to power!" said Shigeru. "Ready for launch."

"Shinji can you hear me?" asked Misato as she looked at one of small windows on the large view screen showing the inside of the entry plug.

Shinji was sitting there stone still in the vat of LCL, hands on controls, clothes still on, head down low. He made no movement showing signs that he heard her but his voice came back over the intercom. "Yes Captain."

"We're getting ready to launch you! The angel is about to reactivate, but you may have a few moments to attack it first if you hurry."

"Launch crew says everything's a go," said Makoto. "On your mark."

"Status is green," said Misato. "Unit 01, launch!"

**********

Shinji felt his stomach lurch downwards into his feet as Unit 01 launched upwards through the ground towards the surface and the battle. The view screen in front of him showed crossed beams of metal flying past him as he shot up the launch tube at incredible speeds. A bridge tech was counting down the seconds until the Eva surfaced, though Shinji wasn't particularly caring. He simply sat there breathing in the liquid about him, waiting.

"Ten seconds to surface!"

Shinji stretched his fingers, flexing them unconsciously, breathing in deeply as the countdown continued. As the bridge tech yelled out five seconds his hands stretched one last time and clenched down hard upon the controls, and the grin formed on his face once more.

"Unit 01 has surfaced!"

Shinji felt the Eva grind to a halt as lights from the buildings surrounding the Eva suddenly twinkled into view of the view screen. The previous day time sky had suddenly become night, the lights from the buildings all around on and bright despite the state of emergency, making it almost seemed like a stage for what was to come. Across the street standing there was the Angel, the large black muscular beast standing there, grey bone like structures about it, the small two eyed face on the top above the red core. It still seemed to be recovering from the shock, for it wasn't moving at the moment.

"Shinji are you ready?"

"Hai, Captain," said Shinji simply.

"Release the final safety lock! Unit 01 deploy!"

Shinji heard the snapping of metal and the release of metal holdings snap back and off of the Eva, and it seemed to lean forward slightly as it was released from its holdings.

"Shinji, I want you to concentrate on walking right now," Ritsuko's voice instructed. "Think it, concentrate on it."

Shinji ignored her voice. She had explained what he was going to be doing before hand. The Eva was controlled by a combination of both mental and physical thoughts. The Eva was supposed to be synched to his body, so that the Eva was like his body, thus when you move, thoughts would go through your body to initiate the movement and the Eva would thus interpret those thoughts as its own. Or at least, that's how Shinji took it. He breathed in deeply once more then let his thoughts focused on the Eva and walking. The Eva seemed to suddenly react to the thoughts as it lifted one of its legs and stepped forward.

"It's… it's walking! He's doing it!" said one of the tech crew members.

Once again, Shinji ignored it as he took another step forward, getting used to the sensation. He gripped the controls as he moved the arms. They reacted just as well moving back and forth as though he was stretching and put him up to his face watching as he moved his fingers. He moved his head back and forth as he clenched his hands back and forth into fists.

"How… how is he so adapt at this?!"

Shinji barely heard Ritsuko's voice as he let his hands drop to his sides focusing on the Angel before him as though expecting what came next. The red core seemed to flash red for a second and the Angel seemed to let out a groan as it moved slowly. The spikes protruding from the elbows seemed to extend out even more as though stretching and its three fingered hands stretched out as well. Suddenly it threw its face back as it let out a roar to the sky.

"The Angel has recovered!"

"Shinji attack it! Get to that red core and destroy it!" yelled Misato.

The Angel walked forward slowly, a lumbering giant in a city. Shinji could imagine Tyler's response to that. "Only in Tokyo." He almost laughed at the thought, despite the situation and got ready as he rushed forward. "Bring it on!" he hissed through his teeth.

**********

"He's handling the Eva with amazing skills!" said Ritsuko as she watched the Eva charge forward at the Angel.

Misato was just as in shock as Ritsuko. He had never been in an Eva, never practiced before, had never HEARD before of an Eva, and yet he was handling the Eva with ease! She watched with amazement as the Eva charged forward through the city at the Angel. Right as he was about to get towards the Angel, the Angel shot its hands forward towards the Eva trying to grab it.

"SHINJI DODGE!" yelled Misato, but a split second earlier, the Eva ducked underneath, pulled back it's arm, hand curling into a fist and threw it forward into the core of the Angel. The Angel let out a roar of pain as it was thrown backwards skidding into the ground. The Eva ran forward taking its chance and jumped getting ready to land on the Angel. The angel's eyes suddenly glowed and a blast of energy erupted from them hitting the Eva in midair and throwing it backwards.

"Shinji!" yelled Misato as the Eva flew backwards and landed into the ground with a huge crash. "Shinji get up!"

Before the Eva could react the Angel pulled itself up and threw its hands forward grabbing the Eva by the head and lifting it upwards. The next moment it grabbed one of the arms of the Eva, its arms suddenly bulging as though morphing its muscles and started to pull the Eva apart.

"SHINJI! GET OUT OF THERE!" yelled Misato as Bridge techs started to yell as the Eva system started to give out system warnings.

"With all due respect Captain…" came Shinji's strained voice. "Be quiet."

It took a moment to register exactly what Shinji had said, and when it did the possibility of the Angel killing the Eva and winning disappeared from her mind.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE BASTARD?!"

**********

Shinji struggled against the controls as his arm "felt" itself be ripped apart, the entry plug silent for once. Surprisingly it was simple to turn off the communications. As with everything in the Eva so far, it was a simple matter of thought process, such as "Turn off the damn communication system" was what Shinji had thought. He was sure that the Captain and whoever had designed the Eva's hadn't planned that the pilot would be able to do that, but it sure came in handy now.

He looked down at his arm, the veins in the arm bulging and the whole body part shaking as he felt the pain. He focused away from the pain. It was NOT his arm. It was the Eva's. His arm was fine. First thing's first though. Stop the Angel from ripping off his… no… the EVA'S arm. Best way? Go for the arm doing the job. He let his arm go limp as he immediately went for the knife in the Wing of his Shoulder. Despite what Ritsuko may think, he did listen to what she said, and she had said that there was a knife in the shoulder blades. And that's exactly what he need right now. He quickly pulled the large knife out of his with his free arm and slammed it forward into the arm of the Angel. Blue blood splattered out at the entry wound and the Angel let out a roar. Shinji felt the grip loosen slightly on his arm and despite the still existent pain he grinned and pulled back the knife and stabbed again and again. More and more blue blood splattered out at each stab wound, and with each stab the grip loosened until finally Shinji was able to move his other arm and wrench lose of it. The next moment he grabbed the arm with both hands, and pulled and pushed in opposing motions. A large sounding crack was heard as the arm snapped going limp as the Angel roared in pain. Shinji kicked the monster to the ground quickly, trying to get some distance so he could regain the focus needed. It skidded along the ground once more away from Shinji.

Shinji was sure that the Captain and tech members on the bridge or HQ were probably yelling out what to do, yelling out details of how something was probably wrong with the arm, or how he was failing miserably, but in all truth, he didn't particularly care at the moment. He quickly flipped the knife about in his hand flicking the blue blood off it and charged once more at the Angel who was already getting up and recovering. Right as he was about to hit it full force head on and as the Angel stood up completely he suddenly slammed into some sort of invisible field, orange sparks and light sparking up at the contact. Shinji's eyes narrowed as he pushed forward again only to hit the orange field. He slammed forward again with the same results. It was, for lack of a better term, a force field like thing; a self defense mechanism that the Angel could activate at will. An impenetrable wall it seemed. Well, every wall had a weakness, and then it would come tumbling down. Without thinking he curled his hands in fists and started to hit the wall as hard as he could. With each punch waves of orange light would flash at the impact site and more electricity could be seen. Shinji continued to do so punching and hitting as hard as he could, the angel standing there seeming to take the beating. Maybe it was because the Angel needed all of its energy on the wall at the moment? Shinji hit again and again and started to feel it the field like it was starting to push inwards. Shinji's grin appeared once more as he went back to attacking with a new zeal. The more he punched the more it felt like it was a something like very thick sheet of stretchable material stretched around the Angel. Shinji pulled back once again flipping the knife in his hand, raised it above his head and brought it down with all his might on the field. Along with the sounds of electricity, the sounds of the field being hit, and the visible reaction of the field, the knife actually SANK IN a few inches. Shinji quickly pushed in with all his might as the Shield seemed to bend around the knife and point of impact as he pushed trying to get it in the field even more. Finally he let go of the knife and reached into the corners around it with his fingers and started to pry. Pain erupted through his arms at the contact of the field but he continued to pull, harder and harder, creating a large and larger hole as Shinji continued. He grinned even more, beads of sweat forming at his head as he pulled watching the field pull apart farther and farther, his grin widening with each inch gained until finally he let out a beast like roar and ripped the field apart. The orange light seemed to flash once more then disappeared, the feeling of the field fading from his fingers. The angel must have been waiting for it because its unbroken arm flew forward towards him once more a flash of white light erupting out of its palm. The next moment the spike from its elbow flew forward through its arm and out of its palm at Shinji. Shinji's body automatically kicked in and pushed his head to the side, the spike flying right past his head. He quickly grabbed the spike pushing it to the side as he grabbed one of the rib cage like spikes around the core and put his foot against the core. He slammed it forward and pulled with both hands in one swift motion, a ripping sound being heard as he ripped the Angel's arm back and the rib ripping out of the skin, more blue blood spurting out of the wounds as the Angel crashed to the ground. The angel tried to move its arm once more but Shinji slammed its foot onto the arm to prevent it from moving and grabbed it with his hands once more ripping it apart his armor and hands already covered in blue liquid. He ripped the rib completely out and brought it down on the core driving the end into cracking the outer part. He pulled up and stabbed down again and again striking the core with more and more force, more and more cracks appearing in the orb.

As he pulled back for one final strike the Angel's eyes glowed once more as it roared, whipping its broken arms forward and around the Eva launching itself forward the red core gleaming white. Shinji let go of the broken rib just as quick as the Angel jumped forward and pushed its hand forward grabbing the core of the Angel before it could connect with him and with a roar used the inertia of the Angel to throw it backwards over his shoulder and into the sky. The next instant a bright white flash followed by a deafening explosion was heard as the Angel self destructed sending a pillar of white into the air around it, and blinding the view screens of Shinji's Eva as he felt the waves of heat wash over him, the Eva sent flying backwards.

**********

"SHINJI!" yelled Misato as she and the members of the HQ watched the view screens go white and blind from the self destruction of the Angel in the sky. Despite Shinji having turned off the communications, it hadn't stopped Misato, Ritsuko, and the techs to yell out status changes information and the like though Shinji couldn't hear them. It took them quite a while to figure out he had taken down the communications, and when they did Misato broke her original headset in her fury, and had to get a whole new one. It was only when they saw that Shinji was starting to be able to handle himself that the instructions started to come down less. When they saw Shinji break the arm of the Angel uncaringly, few status changes were given out at all. When Shinji finally broke the Angel down and was delivering the final blows, the room had gone silent. And finally a deathly silence and a cold atmosphere had settled down upon the whole bridge at the move of desperation by the Angel, watching as the Eva flung the Angel high into the sky and the preceding explosion light up the night sky as well as the white light engulf the part of the city, the Eva and the camera they were using to view the events. White noise engulfed the screen shortly thereafter, the camera seeming to have been either destroyed or shorted out. The bridge stayed silent minutes after the events until Ritsuko was the first one to recover.

"Get the systems back online!" she said shakily. "I want to know what's happened out there!"

"The… the blast shorted out our cameras in the city mam!" yelled one tech.

"Get them back up and running!" Ritsuko instructed. After a few minutes of no one making a move, still sitting in the stunned silence she yelled the order again. "NOW!"

Misato walked up to Makoto and grabbed his shoulder. "Shinji… what's the pilot's status?" she said weakly concern overwhelming her for the pilot who had just saved the city.

Makoto seemed to jump back to reality at the touch of her hand and started to type away at the computers. "I… can't tell. The blast disconnected us from the Eva's system momentarily... I'm trying to get it up again."

"Cameras are back online!" yelled Maya.

The large view screen in front let out a burst of white noise across the screen then the image of the city appearing once more. Fire lined the streets located below the explosion, the fires already starting to die out.

"Where's… where's the Eva?" asked Misato. "Where's Shinji?!"

"Changing Cameras," said another tech member.

The same burst of static and white noise was seen and heard and the view changed to the middle of the street. Standing there in the middle was the Eva in the midst of the fire, slight burn marks lining the armor, but no visible damage anywhere on the armor. It stood there slumped over, arms and legs limp, the eyes still glowing in the floating embers of the fires as they seemed to dance around the Eva.

"Unit 01 is still standing!" said Makoto.

"And Shinji?" asked Misato.

"Trying to reestablish system connections…" said Makoto his fingers typing furiously away at the computer. "Eva status is established; minimal damage over the body. Eva is still active."

"The pilot! What about Shinji?!" asked Misato gripping Makoto even harder.

"Pilot status is up, all vital signs normal! Connecting to sound and camera feedback… sound should be coming up… now…"

The next moment a low sound could be heard throughout the bridge, something sounding like a mixture of heavy breathing and muffled voice.

"What… what is that?" asked Ritsuko.

"Is… that laughing?" asked Misato after a moment.

"Camera is… connected…" said Makoto after a moment.

The view screen showed the interior of the entry plug and Shinji sitting there in the pilot's seat, his hung low once again, hands still clenched over the controls. The bridge watched as the pilot made no movement, the low laughter still ringing. Misato wondered where the laughing was coming from until she saw Shinji's shoulders heave up and down in rhythm as the laughing started to grow louder.

"Sh… Shinji?" asked Misato slowly.

If he heard her, he made no move or signs of acknowledgement continuing to laugh still, his whole body now shaking with the laughter. The laugh finally became a full blown laugh, Shinji throwing back his head showing his face. Misato's blood ran cold as she saw the smile on his mouth as he threw his head back laughing to the sky almost manically like. The laughter filled the bridge as everyone sat stock still in their seats watching the pilot, most of the faces reading fear at the sight before them and some of them had turned away clenching their eyes shut at the sight of how pilot Ikari was reacting to it all. Everyone stood as through frozen in place until the sound and the camera suddenly turned off. Misato's eyes spun over to Ritsuko who had leaned over to one of the computers and had turned off the camera and sound. Her hand was shaking as she withdrew it from the console and she visible swallowed before continuing. "Begin… recovery and damage control operations immediately. Get the fires in the city out immediately and get the Eva and…" She paused and swallowed visibly again before speaking "…and the pilot… back to base."

This time instead of sitting and standing frozen there the tech crew and members in the bridge jumped immediately too it giving commands through he computers and their headsets, as though eager to get busy and forget what they had just seen on screen.

Ritsuko pushed back her hair with a shaky hand and walked over to Misato sharing a glance, her eyes showing a disturbed look after what she had just seen. Misato was sure she had the same things in her own eyes and let Ritsuko pass her without saying a word, afraid that she wouldn't be able to speak still. She glanced back up at the Commander. He still sat there as still as a stone, hands clasped in front of his face, head down low, his face unreadable. She glanced over at Fuuyutski who was at the moment looking away quietly breathing in deeply as he tried to undo the collar of his shirt, seeming to try to get more air in to his lungs. Misato glanced back at the commander, still in his position still unmoving. Perhaps he was the only one in the room that didn't seem to be affected at all by what had just happened.

_Like father like son_

The thought ran like a chill through her brain and she quickly pushed it away. Point was they won with minimal damage both to the Eva and the city surrounding it. That's all that mattered for the moment, and what was important was now getting the Eva and Shinji back safely before morning hit and the civilians returned back to their homes. She quickly straightened herself and started to give out orders over the headphones.

"I want a recovery team out there now. Get a hold of Shinji and tell him to pilot the Eva back to the ramp…"

**********

Gendo sat still looking at the screen where the image of his son had been moments before.

"Gendo… your son…" began Fuytuski as he tried to recover his breath, the full scene and events of the battle seeming to have taken a toll on his heart.

"I know," said Gendo shortly. He understood what was affecting Fuytuski so much. Fuytuski had seen just as much killing as Gendo had. What had bothered him was what he had just seen which didn't follow how Shinji had been planned to be at all, but in fact was almost complete opposite. The skills his son portrayed in piloting the Eva, the ferocity and unmerciful way he attacked the Angel and damaged it, and the chilling scene of what could only be described as Shinji laughing at it all at the end of the battle. He and Gendo had seen it all, and it had shaken them down to the depths of their souls. This was not the Shinji Gendo had planned him to be! He was supposed to be a spineless weakling, a coward easily bendable to the will of Gendo, a tool that would be sharpened with proper practice and training, but would remain a TOOL nevertheless, not someone with such a strong will as this. And what was even more disturbing was his efficient way of killing. Gendo had watched him handle the knife, watched how he took out the weak point when the Angel attacked and how he efficiently eliminated said attacking mechanism quickly and brutally with no hesitation as well as any other threats, and then finished off the Angel with a part of the Angel itself after ripping that part out of the Angel. He displayed a talent with violence as well as a liking and unmercifully swift way of carrying it out. Combine that with the fact that he was laughing after it all, and not weeping uncontrollably or showing any signs of regret, and it only pointed to one thing. Shinji was a killer. And that only lead to the most disturbing thought floating in Gendo's head at the moment. If he had not been concerned for Rei the moment Gendo had imposed her and his plan upon him, Shinji would have and could have easily killed Gendo without a second thought as to why, whether he had commanded his friend to simply fire, or if he had grabbed the gun from his friend and unloaded the full clip into Gendo's body.

He held his body back from shaking as he realized that the full plan was in jeopardy. The first Angel may have been destroyed but this was not counted on as an unknown risk/ factor. The plan may fail soon and quickly simply by the hands of his son, and he could not allow that. He would need to revise it, re-factor in his son's new behavior. He almost groaned on the inside. The planned scenario he had laid out however had taken years and with plenty of free time on his hands, and the way his son was the whole thing may unravel by dawn's breaking. He would not be able to change his plan so soon. He breathed in deeply calming himself. Not everything was at a fail yet. Gendo knew himself a genius and while it may take a while to reconstruct it all and get things rolling back into a way he could control, he would have to roll with the punches, something he had done well before, and had no doubt that he would continue to do so, so long as his reunion with Yui was still on the line. And if it meant going toe to toe with Shinji his son, so be it. While Shinji may be ruthless on the battle field, Gendo was ruthless in the commanding field. He will break Shinji of his will and gain control of him once more… and when everything was said and done… he would reunite with his beloved once more…

Gendo let the thoughts fade from his mind as he stood up. "Fuuyutski, I leave you in command. Make sure everything goes smoothly, and when the cleanup is done give the clear for all civilians to return to their homes."

"Yes sir," said Fuyutsuki.

Gendo started off towards his office for the report when he paused. "When Eva is back safely and the cleanup crews are done I want to see you, Ritsuko and Captain Kutsuragi in my office immediately afterwards. We have things to discuss."

Gendo barely heard the usual "Yes sir," from Fuuyutski as he walked back into the elevator. He will win. He will commence the third impact, become a god, and see Yui once more. NOTHING, not even his son, will stop him.

**********

First off, sorry for taking so long. It's become apparently clear to me I don't know this series as much as I would like too so I've been going back and forth between writing and studying up on the series a bit more most of this time I haven't written anything so I apologize for that. Still studying up on a few things so bare with me through the story.

Few things really quick… fine a lot of things really quick.

As usual, explanations for certain things. The setting for the Eva may wrong, it being half in LCL. I like the setting myself though so yea… sorry. First off, in the series when Shinji meets Rei and Unit-01, the base is under attack and part of the ceiling falls down to hit them, and Unit-01 blocks the falling debris with its hand. I have nothing like that in the story simply because it didn't seem to work for me, and I have other reasons which I'll reveal later of course in the story. Second, I apologize for such a short and puny argument between Shinji and Gendo. I tried rewriting it all, but nothing seemed to work or at least as well as this one, so I kept this one. I know that a lot of people won't like the idea of Shinji and his friends suddenly pulling guns out of nowhere and gaining control of the situation, so quickly, and without reason. Rest assured, there are specific reasons for them having guns, one of which I will reveal in the next chapter. AND LASTLY, is the battle between Unit 01 and Sachiel. I followed the anime series fight rather closely, which of course would mean writing that part would be completely unnecessary. I wrote it down however trying to put a different spin on it with different actions and a different ending to show part of Shinji's personality and style as well as set up a few more things that will of course, come in later chapters. Oh and Shinji going crazy at the end? Yea, something else to explain in later chapters of course

FINALLY. Done with that. So really quickly, I want to give thanks to certain people, namely the Nine that reviewed my story.

**Solid JJ**: Thanks for being the first to review the story always good to hear people's opinion and the fact that you're the first makes it even better. Hope you liked this chapter.

**Blackmoon7875**: Thanks for pointing out the small details I got wrong, it's those things that make or break the story quite often, so feel free to keep on pointing them out whether through e-mail or reviews, I'm always willing to listen and improve on my writing! As for Ikari and Shinji having Itachi, I guess we'll just have to find out what happens with that later in the story now won't we? Heh heh

**Slicerness**: Yea, I did and still am freaking out a bit about the story huh? Well thanks for saying its good so far. Yea, I'm trying to make sure I don't have Shinji be quite a dick, but at the same time I don't want him to be some regular guy being pushed around. I know OCs aren't particularly cared for, however when I came up with the idea I had three friends for Shinji in my head for later ideas in the story again as well as the fact that friends always make life easier. As for the song THANK YOU. When I went to look it up I got hooked on it and listened to the song throughout writing the chapter. I hope you saw the credit I gave you for the song above. Any other songs you got throw them at me; always looking for new music to write and listen to in general.

**Dylanredefined**: Details make or break a story, but in my case I really do over do the details a lot like you said, and I'm trying to work on that more. As for the OCs well, I'm still trying to refine those a bit more too haha.

**Knyght**: I'll be the first to admit I'm not a BA at all so of course me trying to write like one doesn't really work now does it? Haha However your right, I'm trying to pull them off like that and I'm probably not doing a very good job. However again, hopefully this chapter did that a bit more justice then the first one. Hope you like this one a bit better.

**21xxkiller: **Glad you like it. Like I said before, that's what I'm trying to shoot with for the characters, guys that are punks, but not ones that readers completely hate. I'm hoping to keep it that way, and if I don't tell me so I can fix it up.

**Dinoboy48: **Thanks for the praise! Always good to hear it, and the comment about fanfics the way I want it, really helped me calm down a bit before I posted this chapter.

**Sonnes-Loco77: **Uh… lo siento, pero, no hablo espanol…. Well not a lot anyways. If I understood correctly, you said something about Shinji pairings with Asuka or Rei. I don't know the pairing yet to be honest. I know its not with Julie that much is certain. And yea, my history (if I'm reading right) isn't too good. But keep on reading! Hope you continue to like it!

**Straximo:** Thanks for the tips! I do notice I don't go with the environmental descriptions too much, and when I do, I overdo them like the character descriptions, but I'll make sure to work on it. Part of the problem is, I'm not too familiar with the environmental settings of NGE, but that's one of the thigns I'm studying. I can already tell you have this down by the sentence example you gave haha and I'll try to do things better. The whole development of the characters with the negative and positives I am trying to do as you can hopefully tell with this chapter. I plan to do that concept with their personalities, histories, and how its all come into how they are now. With the nightmare thing; you again make a good point. I haven't thought of it that way. I'll be sure to work on it. And seriously, thank you for saying I'm pretty good for a beginner. Stuff like that is what keeps me going. And nah, I didn't just get lucky with the typing… or… so I hope… haha. Thanks again for the kind review, hope you keep on reading and continue to review. Like I said earlier to **Blackmoon7875 **details make a story, so just keep on giving tips if you would, whether through review or email!

Lastly, thanks to all those who read. Keep on reading, and if you would please review. And as I said earlier, if you guys just have song suggestions for listening to while writing, throw those out at me, and I'll give you credit if I use them and suggest them for the story.

Have the next Chapter up soon, or sooner then this one took hopefully.


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